Half-Life: The Second Borderworld
by Lloyd999
Summary: The six rebels of City 13, now the six rebels of Borealis Base, find themselves making a huge mistake. That is when they learn that Xen is not the only borderworld. Contains Portal.
1. Chapter 1

My idea of a fan fiction. I know I haven't been working on my other ons because I sort of doubted my own talent, that and I've been involved with roleplays, so most of my attention's been focused there. Anyway, I was planning on doing a half-life fanfiction, but it somehow ended up like this. I've actually been studying for it, and I plan on making it soon, I'm just trying to come up with a storyboard for it.

The main characters of this story are the exact characters I had made for that very Half-Life fanfiction, the rebels of City 13 A.K.A. Windsor-Detroit. Here is just one of their side stories. I do not own the 'quiet girl' or the 'ex-corporal', those are characters of Valve, along with the whole Half-Life Franchise and related games. Also, the 'engineer' is based off a Valve owned character. And the rest of this that isn't Half-Life, nor one of the main characters, belongs to Team Shanghai Alice, but there's no use keeping it a secret.

And be sure to at least read and review, and what you all do best. Feel free to follow or favourite or whatever, but I'm not threatening you, yet... (Sorry, I just had to put a beg here, it didn't feel right without it.)

Chapter One: The Borealis

_A lost ship of knowledge. Where do all forgotten things end up?_

"YAAAH! Take it to the banks and cash 'em!" Josh shouted, his trusty hand-built flamethrower in hand. Engulfing a Tripod Synth creature in flames, Josh could feel the heat radiating from the flames, which felt great in the arctic climate which was cold all the time. It screeched in an electronic yelp, and went mad. The flames blocked it's vision, causing it to spray it's ammunition like crazy, in a shotgun-like style. It's ammunition however, were blue fléchettes, which blew up seconds after they made contact. Another one of the alien creatures ran up on front of it's companion, which was now burning to pieces.

Josh made a run for it, being covered by one of his teammates, except he wasn't human. He shot green energy beams from his hands, and had slowed down the Tripod Synth creature, causing it to be dazed for only a second. "Come on, Rokunam!" Josh shouted to the Vortigaunt.

Five Humans and a Vortigaunt were running in thick snow, away from the resistance base, known as Borealis Base. Named after the greek god of the northern wind, and after the ship that was frozen in ice that it was near. However, as of just recently, the Combine had found their base, and they had launched a full-scale assault, their army consisting of mostly the Tripod Synth creatures, known as Hunters, and the Combine Soldiers and Elites. However, more and more support was pouring in. There was a Hunter-Chopper, and Dropships were pouring in with backup, and one had even brought in a Strider, a large, almost Giraffe-like Tripod Synth creature. They were dead serious about something. It had to be the Borealis

The six resistance members had only come to the base recently, but they had been hearing some mysterious things about the Borealis. It was a ship frozen deep in the ice. It had something to do with an old science company, Aperture Science. One of the six members, however, knew very well about said company, and yet knew nothing of this ship. There had been increasing consideration in scouting out the ship. Something about possible technology that could mean a huge advantage for humankind, or at least that's what they've heard. Dell, one of the six, was able to see the blueprints for it, him being an engineer. The quiet girl had also gotten to see them, or was rather asked to see them, for she knew more about Aperture then anybody, though, this attempt was to no avail. She couldn't read blueprints at all.

But whatever the Borealis contained, the Combine wanted it. The Combine were already starting to make camp. The resistance had decided it was best to cut off their supplies. This presented a problem for the Combine. They needed to get rid of the resistance at Borealis Base if they were to bring in more supplies, and so far, they were winning. And so, that led to the six resistance members being forced to flee from Borealis Base, and coincidentally, toward the Borealis itself.

Joshua Mitchell and the Vortigaunt named Rokunam, were at the very back, for they were the slowest, and were doing most of the fighting, trying to keep the Hunters that were hunting them down (no real pun intended) at bay, so they could at least escape. But of course, the Combine can't leave just one rebel alone, nonetheless six. Probably a lesson they've learned from having to deal with the likes of the legendary Gordon Freeman.

Ahead of them were to men and two woman. The furthest ahead were the ex-soldiers Mykeisha Bruma and Adrian Shephard, but they did not come from the same force. Mykeisha Bruma was once a Combine Soldier, but she had decided to join the Resistance. She has had a couple mechanical replacements, one of the visible ones being that she had her left eye replaced. She often keeps her mask off, but keeps it when needed, such as for disguise, and keeps the rest of hr uniform on. Adrian Shephard was once a soldier of the U.S. Military, a special unit known as the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, or the HECU for short. He says he knows what happened at Black Mesa, for he's been there. He still wears his outfit, a marine uniform with a gas mask and a helmet. This may be just to be patriotic, but it could also be that he doesn't have anything else to wear.

Behind them, another woman was following, wearing an orange jumpsuit and matching pants. Usually, she keeps the jumpsuit wrapped around her waist, and wore a white t-shirt underneath, on the chest, the word "_APERTURE"_ next to an aperture iris-like symbol. Though, she had the jacket zipped up now because it's so cold up in the arctic (duh). And behind her, Dell Conagher lagged behind, trying to keep up with the rest, toolboxes in his hands. In the toolboxes, are his easy assemble tripod mounted sentry turret guns. They are all built from scratch, using whatever spare parts Dell can find, and can be mounted up from the toolbox easily, and packed up just as easily. He was only able to save a couple though. It was him and Josh that started this little party.

Josh and Dell used to live in City 13, the main city for engineering things like vehicles, engines and some generators, and one of many cities that engineers weaponry. City 13 deals with a lot of machinery, and doesn't make Synths. In City 13, they had no idea about the actions of the rebellion, until they learned it from the a message that had appeared on their television screens about the rebellion. The two, being good friends, for they had worked together, making engines, had decided to join this resistance. The others followed. The rather young and awkward Mykeisha Bruma, the soldier that caught them, but joined them shortly after. The mysterious Adrian Shephard, who just seemed to be dropped into the middle of nowhere. The quiet girl, who was even more mysterious, having to do with a place called Aperture, and having a strange teleportation device that was similar to Gordon Freeman's famed Gravity Gun, and a rather large cube with hearts on the side. They left it in their truck, which was back at the base, but despite the mixed emotions she had for it, somehow, a feeling of affection, but a feeling of disgust as well, she had not worried about it. Rokunam was the last to tag along, Rokunam having been arrested by the Combine once, but saved by the group.

The six ran toward the base as fast as their legs would allow them. The snow made it difficult. The two soldiers, Shephard and Bruma were having some trouble walking, but were used to harsh conditions. The quiet girl had some sort of boots on that prevented her from receiving injury while falling from otherwise fatal heights, though, they didn't help much in the snow. Bruma had said she'd sworn she's seen similar technology in the Combine, some sort of secret project involving Elites. Dell was probably the slowest, carrying to heavy toolboxes, and stepping through the snow in thick boots. Josh was slow for he wasn't a fast runner in the first place, and hated the cold the most. Rokunam was certainly not used to the snowy landscape, and was also showing signs of sickness.

Still, the two held the Hunters back as much as they possibly could. However, the Hunters kept flanking up around them. Josh tried blowing them back using his special function Dell and him developed for his flamethrower, the Compression Blast. It's purpose was to blow things back a distance with a powerful blast of air. Combining it with the primary flame function can let it create powerful splashes of flames, almost explosive. The only problem with it though was that it wasted a bit too much gasoline. Though, Josh still loved the feeling of burning things to ash and blowing them over cliffs, no matter how much gasoline it took. And right now, that didn't matter, only their lives.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Mykeisha shouted over the commotion. There was no way that either Josh or Rokunam heard that. The hunters seemed to have no problem running on snow, yet however, it had been noted that Hunters are absolutely useless on ice. On front of the group, a glacier, still and unmoving, sat before them. In the glacier, the Borealis stood, a large, grand, cold ship.

Chell never wanted to come here. A vessel owned by Aperture, Chell had though she left all that behind. To this world, Aperture was dead, non-existent, the least of anybody's worries. Yet here she was again, coming back to it. She had told herself time and time again, that there was no way the ship would be anything like down there, but there were still the memories.

One by one, the rebels started feeling the ice under their feet. Shephard had to stop to keep his balanced. Bruma had tripped over onto her back. Chell's Long Fall Boots, created with the function to prevent her from landing anywhere else except on the flats of her feet had actually prevented her from falling over or tripping, but she had trouble moving otherwise. Dell, being the tough man he was, was barely effected by the ice, and moved at a walks pace.

Josh had unfortunately landed on his side with a thud, along with a groan of pain from him, and a call from Dell; "Comon, Mitchell!" Rokunam had to stop completely to keep his balance. If he took so much as a step, or even a shift of weight, he would have likely fallen over himself.

The Hunters had somehow mysteriously backed off. They didn't even bother attempting to walk on the ice. Many of them still shot at the rebels, but otherwise, they seemed to head back. There was no way they would have known they would have been useless on ice, unless they learned it from experience when getting here, though, were they capable of learning? It was hard to tell, but if Combine Soldiers were once intelligent human beings and still are, perhaps Combine Hunters were the same? The rebels were wrapped in a series of small explosions from the darts, but all of them were unharmed, but pretty much all of them fell over.

"Well, glad that's over," Dell said in relief in his texan accent, standing up and regaining his balance. "Hah, since when?" Josh retorted, getting up himself, though, he had seriously hurt his side. Though, it did not need medical attention, only to him it was serious.

"What'd ya expect?" asked the young voice of Mykeisha Bruma, "That's the Combine for ya!" she stood up herself, groaning all the way. Shephard and already gotten himself standing up, and was signalling toward something, causing everybody to look. Near the Borealis, there was something. "It appears an Advisor Pod has landed here, and an Advisor sure to be nearby," Rokunam stated, stating the obvious.

On the ice, an Advisor Pod had landed quite roughly, likely some sort of manual landing, yet it was otherwise undamaged. And as if on cue, there was a disturbance. As if it was some sort of book or movie, they could feel a powerful presence. It was mentally shaking. It felt as if the entire world shook, and a sort of pulse, and angry pulse, shot through them. Obviously Rokunam felt it the most, if it was possible anybody else felt it less. A sensation of mutual fear wiped through the group. None of them had seen an Advisor before, not even Mykeisha. The presence of an Advisor alone could make one go insane with fear.

"Okay, I know everybody's thinking it, but, I'm just saying it. It'd be best if we headed back." Josh suggested. He wasn't among the bravest of the pack. Chell nodded slightly. She didn't want to go near the place anyway.

"For once, I'd have to agree with the Mitchell," Rokunam said, "If we value our own existence. It's the reason why we are fighting, are we not? Also, the Mossman is still back there, among with the rest of the rebels, and are still fighting, and it's best if we help them." The other three looked at them with disappointment.

"Are you telling me you guys want to run?! Are you crazy?!" Mykeisha shouted, "You all came this far, and you don't want to make a difference?!"

"Y'all just a bunch of rats, aintchya?" Dell asked, "Always lookin' to survive. If y'all wanted to live, y'all should have stayed back in where y'all came from. 'Sides, I've never seen a Vort back out of anything good."

Shephard decided this was a good time to speak up.

"Listen," he explained, "There is a Combine Advisor in there. If the Combine get a hold of whatever's in there, then the Combine steal our only advantage over them, and you can say goodbye to humanity, and goodbye to all you've come here for in the first place! It's been a real pleasure fighting with you all, having come this far, fighting in the shadow of Freeman. Dr. Mossman's going to have to wait, but for now, we must deal with this. There are six of us, and only one of it. We can take it down. Besides, don't you want to tell your children and your friends about how you killed a Combine Advisor?"

Josh was still uneasy, but somehow, he changed his mind. Rokunam knew that he was indebted to these people, as are his kind indebted to the Freeman, and thus, the human race, who now fight against the Combine, the force even the Nihilath ran from. He knew it was his duty to do his part to prevent the humans from losing the rebellion, the one hope that may stop the Combine once and for all. Maybe even the Vortigaunt Homeworld could be restored.

And Chell. Chell was determined to do whatever it took to get her freedom. When she finally tasted the fresh air, she found she was nowhere near more free than she was testing under Her cameras' gaze. She was outside, but outside was nothing like she had remembered it to be. She was right, things really were different than the last time she left the building. But did that mean she actually left the building before the first time she remembered doing so?!

Quickly, Shephard decided to make a battle plan. Using memories from the blueprints, they decided to find some way to search the vessel quickly, and ambush the Advisor. Surely there would be no Headcrabs or Antlions in the arctic, and it didn't seem as if the Advisor had backup. What exactly was it even planning? Either way, there was no reason for any of them to be shooting off ammunition unless they found the Advisor, of which would be their signal.

They checked their weapons. Josh had his Flamethrower with about 60% of gasoline left in it, and a Colt Python with four full clips. Dell had two basic Tripod Mounted Sentry Turrets and an SPAS-12 shotgun. Mykeisha had a Combine Standard Issue Pulse Rifle, otherwise known as an AR2 with plenty of ammunition for both fires, and a Flare Gun with four flares, five MK3A2 Grenades and even had a spare manhack. Chell had her ASHPD and a Scattergun, with 16 rounds. Rokunam did not need any weaponry.

Shephard had his MP7, which he found was even better than the MP5 he had during his short time in the HECU with 270 rounds and three rifle grenades loaded, three MK3A2 Grenades, his HECU Combat Knife, and his Shockroach, a grotesque looking alien that did not come from Xen nor from the Combine, but was a weapon he acquired from the mysterious third-party aliens marked as Race X.

In Black Mesa, he had acquired a massive hoard of weaponry, including weaponry that wasn't considered normal. The Shockroach was a creature that attached onto an alien's, or in this case, his arm, and could shoot an endless stream of ranged jolts of electricity. He also had a barnacle which he used as a grappling hook, which it's sticky tongue was great for getting out of sticky situations. And then there was the Spore Launcher, as he decided to classify it as. It was actually a baby form of one of the Race X aliens, and Shephard found that he could improvise it into a powerful weapon. He'd somehow gained some type of affection to it. To this day, he still wonders what's become of it, and had it become a healthy Shock Trooper, and was it still alive, wherever it was? What had the G-Man that had visited his base and seemed to have affected his whole life done with it? Either way, for some reason, he had let Shephard keep the Shockroach anyway, and on many occasions, Shephard's been tempted to find a way to cut a barnacle off a ceiling without killing it and using it as a weapon.

Each of the six rebels were to enter the ship in different areas. Josh was stuck with walking right through the hole in the ship's haul. It was dark, very dark. The only torch he had was the pilot flame of his flamethrower, and he could use his flamethrower if he really needed to see. Either way, he travelled slowly, scared out of his mind, but simply travelling through the dark decks of the Borealis, not being able to see anything. Not to mention it was cold, and slippery. Rokunam was there with him. Sadly, there job was to specifically find the Advisor, the exact two people who didn't want to find it in the first place.

Dell had gotten the honour to scout out the bridge of the ship. He made his way up, first, making it onto the main deck, and then up the stairs inside the ship. Everything was usually dark for him, when he was working of course, often having his goggles on for protection, but everything was DARK. Dell was one of the only ones who got a flashlight. He used it to examine tons of things. They were mostly things like the Aperture Logo or Borealis written around everywhere. In fact, those were the only to things he saw, heading up the stairs. Couldn't anybody be bothered to put a C-Word anywhere?

Bruma was to patrol the main deck. The main deck was rather boring to her. It was just filled with sheets of ice and crates of what could only be somethin' sciency, and long out-of-commision. Whoopie... She bet Dell was about as giddy as when the guys found out that Earth still had highways. She decided to stare at the orange hole of the fires of hell, which was apparently one end of an unopened portal. Chell had placed it there with the weird gun of hers, something the Combine would sell an entire universe for, and she was not kidding. She wondered when the other end would open up.

Adrian and Chell were left with scouting the very darkest parts of the Borealis. Everything was cluttered around or covered in tarps or were in crates. Adrian had his nightvision on (thank God, or at least Him that he got to keep it. Wait, was the government guy God?) so he could pretty much see easily. Chell was stuck with a flashlight. To her, the whole place seemed a bit like Old Aperture, but more, boat-like. There were old machines, originating somewhere in the 60s to 80s. There were things that seemed so reminiscent of old Aperture, and yes, even old Cave Johnson. Anything science-related from Fire to Citrus. She even though she saw what could have been the very, _very, _first attempt at a Personality Construct of some sort. That made Chell think of him, the moron. Her first real friend, and yet...

She glanced at Shephard, not wanted to remember all that. She wanted to keep everything in the past, in the past. He's way beyond the cosmos, or at least hopefully he is, and She's far underground, miles and miles away, and she cannot get to you. Shephard was a man who had seen something terrifying. She has had thoughts that Shephard's had a more traumatizing experience than she had, and he still has his memories. How exactly had he been able to survive that not eating away at him for about twenty years, while it's all happening around him? Maybe it was simply because she kept thinking about it. Perhaps she was crazy. In fact, of all the things in the world she's met, she has learned, that one is either in some matter Evil, or, is in some matter Crazy.

Dell finally made his way into the bridge, and what he found, was less than he'd really expected. It was a rather normal bridge really. Nothing all to exciting, and was in fact, depressing. Dell shined his flashlight on the controls, normal ocean liner controls. Though, surprisingly, there wasn't any maps. The navigation equipment looked as if it was never used, and he couldn't find a radio anywhere. Though, he had come across something else. A bunch of buttons. The mechanism seemed to be connected to the P.A. System, and a label on it read "Prerecorded Messages".

It had taken a while, but after walking through the iron stomach of a whale, Josh and Rokunam had found a door leading to the engine room.

"I'm almost certain the Combine Advisor is in here." Rokunam told Josh. Josh could feel a wave of fear throughout his body. The Advisor had not presented it's presence since that first time outside, so it must had been unaware of their location. Pressing his ear against the door, Josh could hear something moving, and it certainly was not mechanical. Josh let the rusted iron door open a bit. There, he saw it.

A large pale giant floating maggot, with mechanical arms and some sort of olive-green suit, and and sort of mask over where it's mouth would have been. It floated around, and seemed to be looking for something. There were tons of devices and machines, but none the Advisor was looking for. Behind the thing was a rather large generator of some sort, most likely the engine.

Josh was just frozen with fear, but then remembered what he had to do, kill it. Right next to it was a red barrel with the Aperture logo on it, and 'FLAMMABLE' written on it, and was red. It was a gas can. There seemed to be a billion of them all over the world, which always seemed to be in Josh's favour, for refilling his flamethrower. He pulled his Colt Python out of his pocket. He never had the best aim, but he had to do this. He took a careful aim, pointed directly at the can, stayed as quiet as possible, and then...

"Alright gentlemen, welcome aboard the Borealis," announced the voice of a very enthusiastic man. "We all know who I am, but hell, I'm just going to say it anyway. This is Cave Johnson, Founder and CEO of Aperture Science. You select few scientists have been selected to work aboard this ship. Now I can guarantee that you absolutely will be working overseas, as soon as we can get this thing working. We are working on an exciting teleportation experiment. Want we're trying to do is find some way to teleport an entire ship onto the sea. Now, I've heard Black Mesa is doing something similar, but using something the lab boys calls "string theory". Little do they know that real science isn't all about making theories all the time! It's doing things and seeing what works! Also, the lab boys tell me that Black Mesa has discovered alien life this way. Well they've already done that at Area 51, so, no big accomplishment there. Now I, Cave Johnson, cannot watch over the expariment myself, so I will be guiding you all with these prerecorded messages. And I have trusted Dr. Johanson to be your captain. Cave Johnson, see you at sea." The message ended there. Dell sat and pressed the next button.

"Okay, so it turns out we cant do teleportation of any kind without some sort of borderworld. Now, lab boys tell me that Black Mesa does it by Zen meditation. That sounds like witchcraft to me, and we don't do that at Aperture! So, we decided to make our own borderworld. Turns out that's virtually impossible. However, I've been told by an unnamed source that we have found another borderworld, which is perfect for us, and isn't filled with aliens. Problem is though, that everybody speaks Chinese. So, we are planning on making an alliance with the natives to let them let us use their world for our own teleportation whenever we please, so we don't cause a Resonance Cascade. And if they don't comply, hell, we'll do it anyway. Cave Johnson, over and out." The message had ended there. Dell decided to go and press the last button.

"Alright, it turns out we may have to close the Borealis project. However, thanks to the research done because of the Borealis, we've made a ton of headway with the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, and it is ready for testing. Also, due to our rapid decline of money, we had come up with a most ingenious device. The Multiverse Transporter. With it, we wont have to waste money on building test chambers. Still, we're going to go ahead and do one last teleportation because I think we had finally gotten it right. Hopefully we can do it with teeth loss only. Also, if it fails, we can use it for our next project, which prevents the problem of not having space to build test chambers. We call it, the Hammerspace. Cave Johnson, we're done here."

Dell chuckled. He had sort of grown sort of an attachment to this man's enthusiasm and personality. He was so dumb, yet so cool at the same time. He was an even more convincing than Dr. Breen. Though, the messages had proven, that there was a teleportation experiment going on, and it was possible that some of the technology was still on the ship. Possibly the engine room. Dell was about to leave to report his followings, when he found a paper on the ground. Picking it up, he read through names. They had to have been the staff's names, for the one at the top read Cpt. Lloyd Johanson.

Dell scanned through the names. Cpt. Lloyd Johanson, Dr. Com Exburna, Dr. Abby Rose, the names seemed endless. They were all typed in, except for the very last one, which seemed to have been written in pen; "Yukari Yakumo."

Then, Dell heard an explosion from below, and a couple gunshots. Everything shook, with the flash of the presence of an Advisor. He looked out the windows of the bridge, but saw nothing except Bruma breaking into a run. Immediately, he did the same. It sounded like it was coming from the back, the engine room.

'HIT THE DECK' Shephard thought to himself and had gotten onto the ground. Chell's reaction was different, and by reaction, shot a blue portal onto a wall. Leading toward the main deck. Bruma, noticing the portal was open, ran over to it and shouted "It came from the engine room, this way!" though, her voice was disoriented by the helmet's voice disguiser. Chell nodded and ran through the portal. Shephard was just getting up, when the portal closed. 'What the hell?!' Shephard thought, but turned around at the sound of _his_ voice.

"Corporal Shephard I see," the man behind him withe the briefcase said. His english was all broken and wrong, his pauses, enunciations, pitch change, they were all messed up, "It's amazing how far one can go if let lose. I've also learned that you aren't one to, abandon others, despite their weaknesses... though it seems that they are beginning to become liabilities."

Shephard tensed up. This man was always weird, and certainly not human. He did have something to do with Freeman, and somehow, Shephard was under this man's control, in a way. Apparently, he had argued with his "employers" in keeping him alive, and he seems to have taken interest in him. Shephard dubbed him the G-Man, for he looked like a government official of some sort. He had visited Shephard's base while he was in training, and sped up his training for whatever reason, keeping him trained in time for the Black Mesa Incident. Once in Black Mesa, Shephard was on the verge of death, but it was the G-Man that saved him, yet however, when Shephard finally had the chance to escape, it was him that trapped him back inside. Also, when the Black Ops planted the bomb to blow up Black Mesa, Shephard had disabled it, yet he saw him reactivate it. And lastly was when he finally left Black Mesa, and actually spoke with him, or rather, G-Man spoke with him. Apparently he kept him under some sort of stasis, and kept him alive. Otherwise, he may have died fighting in the Seven Hour War. Shephard knew however, that the G-Man and his employers were not very merciful people otherwise.

"Now, don't worry Mr. Shephard, I will not bring any harm upon them, for they have played an important role and will, continue doing so. Though I am not, at all, interested in them. And yet, they are about to make a huge mistake. I ask you, Mr. Shephard, to make sure that doesn't happen. However, in the event that you are to, fail doing so, well, I'm not really at the liberty to give advice. I wish I could help more, but do to some of my mistakes, of which I am not at liberty to note, I am under... some seriously restrictions. I do not even have the liberty to be speaking with you right now, but... I do not have a choice. I find that some serious problems are being overlooked..."

At that, he simply walked down a hall. Shephard went to see him go down the hall to wherever he was going, but, it seemed as if he just simply disappeared. He had a tendency to do that. When he saved his life, Shephard had wanted to go and thank him, though when he checked the room he saw him in, the G-Man was gone. Now, Shephard didn't know what to think of him, though he did have some distaste for him, but he did save his life once, likely even twice. Whatever he stopped him now for, he was meaning for something to happen. Either way, Shephard decided to take the same hall he saw the G-Man head through. Then, Shephard broke into a run.

Mykeisha had found her way to the engine room easily, and Chell had followed. They found an a closed hatch door, and could hear Josh cursing in fear, and Rokunam hissing at the enemy behind it. They heard Rokunam hurt the Advisor and Josh falling to the ground, only to be picked up again.

Mykeisha signalled Chell to stand back. She planted a grenade on the hatch's lock and headed for cover. The two girls clenched their weapons, and then they heard the door burst open. Mykeisha then ran out toward the door, Chell following and fired ten shots off the AR2 toward the direction of the Advisor and unleashed her secondary fire. The two ducked as the energy ball missed and bounced around the room violently, smashing into control panels and walls and even bouncing off the Advisor, giving it a burn mark.

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!" Josh screeched at the sight of the wild energy ball, him being suspended in the air, "ARE YOU TRYIN' TO KILL US?!" It was true that Mykeisha tended to be a bit reckless with the AR2. One hit from a Combine Energy Ball could vaporize a person in less than ten seconds, unless you had protection. Chell identified it as the High Energy Pellet, and she had tons of experience with them, having to redirrect them through portals, knowing that it could give her 'permanent disabilities such as vaporization.'

When the Advisor regained it's concentration, it suspended the two girls in the air next to Josh and Rokunam, disarming them. It looked over the four. What it saw was two humans, a Vortigaunt, and an Overwatch Soldier. It looked over the soldier's ID, and got a little confused at first, but then it became angry, and shot the four against the wall. The engine behind the Advisor began to spark.

Dell ran down fleets of stairs, flashlight in hand, shotgun in the other. He saw Shephard running down the hall. "Hey, Shephard!" he called, shining his flashlight toward him, hoping it actually was Shephard. Shephard froze and turned, shielding the light from his eyes. Dell look the flashlight away from his face. "Glad I found 'ya. You'll have no idea what I found up there, nothin' to useful though. Hopin' 'ya two found somethin' good. Where's that girl anyhow? Sorry, doesn't matter. I'm of the assumption you heard the bang near the back of the ship, assumin' Josh is in trouble." Shephard nodded. "Saw Bruma head over that way. Anyway, best we hurry up, the Advisor's 'prolly there, so we best be goin'. Lead the way Comman- I-I mean Corporal Shephard."

It took them a while, but running down the halls, guessing the right way, while looking at the signs, they got to the front of the ship in about five minutes. Shephard stopped, Dell behind him, and looked passed the corner. He saw a hatch door busted open, likely by a grenade, and saw through it, the Advisor, looking at something in the air. By the sounds of the grunts, it was likely everybody else.

"Mind tellin' me what's goin' on?" Dell asked, knowing Shephard wouldn't have told him otherwise. Though, it was sort of obvious what it was. Still, Dell had to take a peek himself. "Aw, hell." he whispered, then hid back behind Shephard. "Got any bright ideas, survivor?" Borealis Base had gotten a vague idea of what Advisors can do. One thing that was mentioned was telekinesis, or psychokinesis, whatever the difference was. It however, was only a vague idea.

Shephard glanced at the creature that stuck to his arm, the Shockroach. It used to have a much tighter grip, but now it was easier to work with. Whether it had become less hostile or less desperate, Shephard couldn't tell, though, now it would move around on his arm and become easier to work with, so he could use it whenever he needed, but it could cling onto the upper part of his arm when he wanted to use a normal weapon. Maybe attacking with a normal weapon would have been useless, but using the creature to shoot electricity, certainly the Advisor couldn't stop it from doing that. Shephard was confident that it had a tight enough grip on his arm to prevent it from being pulled off.

Shephard signalled Dell to stay behind. "Alright, 'ya be careful now, I gotchya' back," Dell whispered. Shephard coaxed the Shockroach to crawl up onto his hand. Then, as silently as he could, Shephard creeped from behind the corner. He didn't see the four, but he saw the Advisor examining their weapons. 'Ah crap, the Portal Gun!' Shephard thought. If the Advisor figured out what it could do, that would have been all the Combine needed to steal humanity's advantage, the knowledge of human portal technology.

Shephard didn't both being sneaky anymore. He started shooting as many sparks as he could at the Advisor before the Shockroach had to recharge. The sparks gave the Advisor even more minor burn marks, among the marks it got from the energy ball, Rokunam's attacks and the explosion from earlier. The Advisor wasn't hurt badly, but still noticed Shephard. Shephard felt himself being lifted from his feet, but then made the Shockroach release a couple more charges at the Advisor. Shephard could feel the Shockroach tugging at his harm, for the Advisor was trying to pull it off. With how tight the grip was, Shephard was becoming worried that it'd rip off a part of his arm with it.

Then, Rokunam saw an opportunity to attack, discharging a bolt of electricity at the Advisor, injuring it more. Shephard and Rokunam took turns attacking the Advisor. Mykeisha ran for her AR2. "Where's Dell?" Josh asked. Shephard bobbed his head toward the door, and signalled Conagher to get inside.

"Clear!" Bruma called, her voice disoriented under her mask. "Oh shiz," Josh said, running for the door, knowing was she was going to do. Everybody ran for cover when Bruma discharged another Energy Ball at the Advisor, this time hitting and burning it, but bouncing off it's thick, yet delicate skin, and bounced around the room wildly, somehow bouncing into the old ship's huge engine, somehow powering it up and causing it to start reacting wildly. All the lights suddenly flashed right on.

The Advisor couldn't take that much heat, and flew out the cargo doors of which it came from, no doubt alerting all it's pals in the battle about a mile away. "The whole damn thing's goin' crazy," Dell said, running into the room, "Either get the hell out or help me stabilize it!" "No problem bro!" Josh called and ran out the door, Bruma following, not before notifying "We'll go find help."

This left Dell, Shephard, Rokunam and Chell in the room. Dell was looking around trying to find some sort of solution, though, with all the broken computers and stuff. "Damnit Bruma, 'ya had to bust _everythin'_, didn't 'chya?" Dell complained, even though the person he was directing it at had already left. Shephard and Chell were also looking around frantically for something that would work. Rokunam stood back and just examined the problem, trying to come up with something in his head. "I suggest to the Conagher that he should discharge energy onto something else, just as we do." the Vortigaunt suggested. Dell tried to comprehend for a second what he meant, but then he understood. Finding a double-outlet cable, he put on end into an inlet that looked like it connected to the engine, while he put the other end into another one on the wall, which he had no idea where it went.

Suddenly, the entire ship shook. "The Borealis!" Dell shouted among the noise, though the noise was louder. The entire ship was falling, the ice it was frozen in was breaking apart. There were loud clashing noises, sounds of an earthquake, loud whirring noises from the engine, and the sound of something powering up. "Please prepare for unauthorized teleport." said a male, computer generated voice, older than the one of the management system Chell was familiar with, but similar.

And all any of them could remember was black and white.

Well, how's that. Sounds like a random Half-Life/Portal crossover fanfiction. As I said, this is based off another fanfiction I'm planning on writing. In it, the story starts with the two characters, Josh and Dell, and when they become rebels, Mykeisha joins them. Then, later on is when the two original characters are introduced, Shephard, and Chell afterward. Then sometime later is when Rokunam was introduced.

About Josh, he's based off me, all cowardly and stuff, pretty much how I'd act if I was in a Combine filled world. Why did I give him a flamethrower based off the Pyro in TF2? No clue, that's just my favourite class.

Dell is actually pretty much directly based off the Engineer from TF2, even having the same name. I'm still having trouble coming up with a history for him. I don't know why I included him, I just felt the fanfiction needed an engineer, and I am good with writing in the Engineer's Texan accent and his down-to-earth personality.

Mykeisha was actually meant to be a bit more of a scatterbrained character, being the youngest, and having no memory of when the Combine invaded (she drank the water) which I'm going to make the assumption of happened in 2012 December 21st, the day of the end of the world or whatever, so she sort of thinks that the other guys are sort of crazy, how they always long for how the world used to be, and yet she became a rebel.

Rokunam was sort of an improvised character. I just always thought the Vortigaunts were epic, and I just had to make one for the adventure. I've made Votrigaunt-like characters for roleplays, and named them Rokunam, so I just did something like that for this roleplay. Rokunam isn't the smartest, but he is still simply, another Vortigaunt. I was debating whether or not I should have included Rokunam in this story in particular, considering where the events ahead were taking place, and I didn't think he matched. But now I sort of have more ideas for him. Originally, he was supposed to fight the Advisor and distract it while the others caused the accident.

Shephard is a character that I imagined to be a selective mute, but he'll occasionally speak, unlike Gordon who pretty much never speaks. He's still traumatized by Black Mesa, though, it doesn't show too much. I pictured Shephard as a team player, even though he works fine himself, and being in Black Mesa gave him a lot of resourceful experience, and he's pretty much the opposite of Josh.

I did imagine Chell to be a bit crazy, though, if I made her crazy in her mind, it just wouldn't match the mood of this chapter. She's still scarred from Aperture, events that happened to her in only two days, and then suddenly, when she is to leave Aperture, suddenly all of that is just gone. Though, I don't really want to make Chell rediculous, always stressing back to Aperture, just more like, haunted. Mostly by GLaDOS, but also by how Wheatley, pretty much her first friend (not including the Companion Cube) had sort of betrayed her.

This chapter is only pretty bad because half of this chapter was written while I was falling asleep, and the other half was written whenever I had thirty minutes of spare time, which wasn't very common. This chapter should have been split into two chapters, but I just wanted this whole course of events to be wrapped up in the first chapter, the introduction of one side of the story, and how it happened, ending with when it happened. By chapter two, I wanted to get into the story, that was one of my goals.

I'm planning on making this story into three Acts. The first Act is sort of peaceful, with some action. The second Act is going to have more action, the start of the real action, and the intensity will start to build. The third Act is just very intense.

Next chapter is coming out when the Teaser for Episode Three is out.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, I decided to post this chapter early, but the next one's going to be on the proper date.

As for how I'm going to name the chapters, I sort of merged the Half-Life style and the Touhou style. The names of the chapters are very simple, involving phrases or objects, and basically, very, basic. Though, then I'll just do some little note, like in Stage descriptions in Touhou games such as PCB and IN.

Speaking of which, about Touhou. This is my first Touhou fanfiction, so I'm trying to do my best to get all the characters right. I've only played Touhou 6-9 and I know about characters from TH10, and I know only some things about TH11, and I know pretty much nothing about every game after that except for Fairy Wars. Plus, I know nothing about the fighting spinoffs.

I was wondering how it would be possible for Japanese characters to interact with English speaking characters, so basically, I was just trying to find every available excuse, but in the end, I decided it was best if Touhou characters spoke English.

Well, on with the chapter. Also, all the disclaimers (and begs) are on the first chapter at the beginning, so I don't have to write it on every single forward.

Joshua Mitchell – Bamboo Forest of the Lost –

Dell Conagher – Human Village –

Mykeisha Bruma – Misty Lake –

Adrian Shephard – Forest of Magic –

Chell [REDACTED] – Youkai Mountain –

Rokunam – Borealis –

Chapter Two: Eastern Border

_Even one who has witnessed the unimaginable, cannot believe the imagined._

"Smell that?" Josh asked the nothingness. Josh found himself stuck in what appeared to be some kind of bamboo forest. It was dark, though, there were stars shining overhead, but he couldn't see the moon through the thickets. He had just found himself there, after trying to escape the Borealis. He hadn't made it in time, he assumed, and now, he was somewhere. Was this what Xen looked like? He'd heard Xen had weird plants, but to have plants that looked like bamboo stalks, actually didn't seem that uncommon.

However, he couldn't be mistaken, this was bamboo. Josh walked through the thick 'forest' of bamboo. He was lost, no doubt, but he had to be on Earth. Of course, when was the last time he saw a healthy piece of bamboo? Or a piece of bamboo in general. He'd actually never seen a bamboo forest before, but where he was was just a little obvious. However, it smelled like bamboo nonetheless.

Maybe the Combine had been secretly growing Earth-bound products, such as bamboo, simply for their own luxuries. Well, that sounded like a very plausible theory, except for the fact that he'd yet to see a single piece of technology. No security, no harvesting, not even technology for growing.

Occasionally though, he'd see a rabbit passing by. Sometimes one would look at him for a bit with a confused look on it's face, but then it'd run off. Rabbits. Josh found it hard to believe they existed anymore. He'd sometimes see birds, and on the rare occasion, rats, and sometimes at night, he could still hear some insects, (and feel them, damn mosquitoes,) but never a rabbit. Was the world really not entirely destroyed? He was most likely in Asia, no doubt. He'd never been in another country before, not even before the Combine invaded. Perhaps the world didn't look the same as the world he was used to. Perhaps nature still thrived elsewhere, where Antlions, among other things, didn't ruin the ecosystem.

Though, there was one time, where he had sworn he heard something other than a rabbit. From so much time out fighting on the field, he knows the difference in between a human's footprints and an animal's. Josh rose his flamethrower in defense, but realizing it wouldn't be a good idea to use it in a forest of bamboo, while having no idea how deep in it he was, he reached for his Colt Python from his pocket.

Dell found himself walking among other people, humans of course. He had just woken up on the edge of some city. He kept asking where he was, and about the Combine. Though, everybody he talked to just looked at him like he was crazy, not to mention his strange attire, and the 'suspicious' tool boxes. To them, he looked like somebody on a farm in space.

"The Combine, the aliens that took over the world, doesn't anybody know about them?!" he'd ask in his frustration, but everybody tried to avoid him as if he was crazy. Certainly it was nowhere as close to being as large as a Combine controlled City, but it was too peaceful to be a Resistance base. It was simply a village, untouched and clueless. Dell thought he actually was going crazy. He popped into nowhere with people who were clueless about the Combine, or even modern technology for that matter. Was he dead? It could have been possible. The place was so old and peaceful, and though it was dark, he could see tons of green beyond. Perhaps there were different levels of heaven, and he happened to be in one that had a lot of older people in it. He certainly didn't feel dead though.

Frustrated, he didn't bother trying to ask people anymore, and simply wandered the village. Most people were asleep, but some buildings such as late-night shops still had light. He simply sat on front of a tree somewhere in the middle of the village, using one of his toolboxes as a seat, setting the other beside him. He put his his chin in his palms and his elbows on his knees, trying to sort the whole thing out.

"Excuse me sir," a woman asked. Dell looked up to see a woman in a blue dress with short white sleeves, and a red ribbon tied to the bottom of her collar. She was wearing some weird sort of blue hat with a red ribbon on top. She had brown eyes and her hair was certainly not normal color. It was mostly silver or white, but with blue highlights. Her voice sounded formal, and wasn't to worried, nor was it too stern. "Is anything wrong?" she asked.

"...Am I dead?" Dell decided to ask. The woman looked at him as if he was crazy. "Take that as a no then, huh?" Dell concluded, then asked, "So if I'm not dead, where in Sam Hill am I?"

"It's nowhere near Sam Hill, wherever that is. You are in the Human Village." she responded, as if humans needed to be identified. Though, it didn't bother Dell too much, considering humans were no longer the dominant species on the planet, nevermind the only intelligent species.

"I suppose humans aren't so common 'round this part of the planet," Dell concluded and continued to asked, "So what about the Combine, have they not taken over some parts of the world? Please don't think I'm crazy, miss, I just got myself teleported just outside of 'ere, long story, and people are actin' like there wasn't a Seven Hour War or even a Resonance Cascade to begin with!"

The woman examined Dell for a bit, trying to make out his attire and what he was saying, and his strange accent. Then, she asked, "Sir, are you from the outside world?" Dell paused for a second, then answered, "I suppose, I've never seen or even heard of 'the Human Village' before. I'm from City 13, but then I ended up with my pals in Borealis Base once I joined the Resistance. And now, I'm here."

"Sir," she said, "You are not in the world you are familiar with. You are in Gensokyo."

Josh followed a smell that was bothering him. It wasn't a smell that he had smelled recently. It smelled like, fish. No, it was freedom, and money. And it was fish.

Movie references aside, Josh was really smelling carrot-something. Whatever it was, it smelled good, and he was getting hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since he had woken up. Plus, it also meant somebody was near. Whatever he thought he'd seen earlier didn't matter, or maybe it did. Or perhaps the person who he could of though he heard earlier is the one with the carrots. Why there'd be carrots in a supposedly bamboo forest didn't matter. All that mattered was that, well, nothing really mattered to Josh. He just let his worn-out instincts carry him wherever was most convenient, even while hauling a huge flamethrower.

Sure enough, passing through a couple thickets, he found a bundle of carrots on the ground. Just normal carrots. Where the smell was actually coming from, who knows. If it was a trap, it couldn't have been a Combine trap. Not even the most juvenile of Units or Soldiers would come up with a trap as this. So, there is nothing totally wrong about a batch of carrots on the ground in a bamboo forest.

He placed his flamethrower on the ground, and walked towards the carrots, pretty much mindlessly. Next thing he knew, however, was that he was dropping two meters into the ground.

"JESUS!" he cried, pretty much being his favorite phrase. He fell on his butt, which was now pretty sore. Who the hell makes pitfall traps in the middle of a bamboo forest. Perhaps the Combine had gotten smart and had started using less obvious traps like landmines, and used simpler ones. Josh stood up, pulled out his Colt Python back out of his pocket, and start pointing it above the hole, which was just above his vision, turning frantically, for possibly any threat. If somebody threw a grenade into the three meter wide hole, Josh could have become nothing more than, he couldn't even picture it.

"Holy crap, holy Jesus, oh God, oh man, oh God, oh man, oh God," he 'prayed'. Though, what he did not hear was the clicking of a grenade or the ring of gunfire, or the moaning, beeping, or whatever, of a Combine device or Synth. What he heard was the giggling of a young girl.

"You completely fell for it!" she laughed. It was a short girl, very young, it seemed, though Josh couldn't tell her age. She was wearing some sort of pink dress, maybe a nightgown, and was wearing white stockings. She was wearing some sort of necklace with a carrot on it. Her hair was black shoulder-length, however, her eyes were red. And that wasn't what freaked Josh out the most. She had a large pair of fluffy white rabbit ears coming out of her head.

Josh was lost for words for a second, but only a second, but then he shouted, "What the hell, I thought you were the Combine!" In his frustration, he kicked the side of the pitfall hole, some dust being thrown into the air.

"Need help?" the girl teased. Though that was a bit irritating, Josh had regained his cool, but refused her offer. He through his gun over the side first and with some difficulty, he hauled himself out. He turned to the girl to find her checking out his fallen weapon, his Flamethrower.

"Um, you really shouldn't get near that thing, it's, um, dangerous," Josh warned. "What's it do?" She asked, heaving the tool into her arms. Josh ran over to her and took the heavy weapon away. He sighed and pointed the weapon into the air.

"Fine, just once," he said, hoping he didn't set the whole place on fire. Pressing down the trigger, flames burst into the air of the little clearing. Josh held it down for about three seconds before stopping and pointing it back down to the ground. The girl looked at it amazed. "Don't try that at home, kid," Josh told her.

"And what gives you the right to call me a kid?" she asked, "You're the lost human, right? I'm the one that's gotta guide you out." Josh looked over her for a bit. "How old are you?" he asked, "Because I haven't seen a child like you in a long time." The girl just ignored her and started heading through the bamboo forest, signaling Josh to follow.

As they walked,many things went through Josh's mind. Such as how this kid possibly exists, what's with the ears (which after staring down at her head for a while, he determined couldn't be fake), what's with the creepy red eyes, and why was she the only one out here?

"So, you said you guide lost humans? I suppose that means your part of the Resistance, right?" Josh asked. The girl paused for a bit but then answered, "Whenever a human gets lost, I guide them out, 'cause I know this entire forest up and down. But, mind if I take you somewhere first?"

"Is there a Resistance base around here somewhere?" Josh asked, "I suppose Combine scouting parties might easily get lost around here, plus I suppose it's not that obvious either, right?" The girl paused once more, because of all the strange words being used, as if they were talking about two different things. Josh realized that she was only a child, so he corrected himself; "I meant the aliens, it would be hard to find us here." She perked up at the word 'aliens'.

"Oh, I know some aliens, from the moon," she told him, "And we're headed to Master's place." Josh guess when she meant 'from the moon', she really didn't have much understanding about the Combine at all, except for the fact that they were 'evil aliens'. He also assumed by 'Master's place', she meant some sort of Resistance base. Josh hoped he didn't have to meet up with anybody extremely bossy, but hey, maybe he or she knows Gordon Freeman, or maybe he'd find somebody he knows there.

"What's your name," Josh asked, "Mine's Josh, I prefer it to 'Mr. Mitchell'." "Tewi Inaba," the rabbit-eared girl responded, "But you can call me Tei."

"So what your sayin' is, that somehow I ended up in some secret place that's filled with magic and a bunch 'a fairy tail creatures includin' demons that one to eat me limb from limb? Is that right?" Dell asked, trying to get his loose facts strait. "Pretty much," The woman responded. She had been busy trying to tell him about what Gensokyo was, where it was, how it came to be, and pretty much the entire history of Gensokyo, but tried shortening up a bit. This man was probably smart, but it was going to take a bit for him to register all of this.

"Ma'am," he explained, "I've seen and heard many crazy things in my lifetime. Some you will not believe unless you lived a good portion of your life in it, and still not believe, and some that will haunt 'ya for the rest of 'yer damn life, I've known many who've been through that. However, this, is kinda a bit much. I've seen things quite damn close to witchcraft and supernatural powers, but, I still don't believe in magical."

"Sounds like the world out there isn't as simple it probably once was," the woman noted, "However, even so. Here, you are going to have to believe everything everybody tells you. Well, except for some of the more mischievous fairies and youkai. I've heard some very rare stories of people from the outside world appearing in Gensokyo, but that is very rare. Though, they mostly decide to live here in the Human Village."

"Are you one of these Yo-ka-y?" Dell said, trying to pronounce the foreign word. "No, I'm human, my name is Keine Kamishirasawa." Dell didn't bother trying to pronounce the name and just stood up and held his hand out. "Pleasure to meet 'ya Miss Kamis... Miss Keine, name's Dell Conagher," he introduced himself. Keine looked at his hand, trying to figure out what he was signaling. "It's a handshake, a very old, but still popular, type of greeting, mostly in western culture," Dell explained, but then gave up, knowing she was clueless.

"Well, I suppose I should find some way to stay for the rest of the night, and then I guess I gotta go see if I can find my teammates 'round 'ere," Dell announced, adjourning the conversation. "Oh, you can-" she was about to offer, but then something zoomed over passed them in the sky. It was place, but still noticeable, catching both their attention.

"What the hell was that?" Dell asked, hoping that it wasn't some sort of Combine attack, or possibly a 'youkai attack'. "The Tengu," Keine answered, "Most likely Aya." "Who's A-" though, he was interrupted by some girl just almost appearing out of nowhere, as if she'd just zoomed in there.

"Aya Shameimaru, reporter and writer of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper," she announced herself as, obviously very proud of her position. She was shorter then both Dell and Keine, and had black semi-long hair, and red eyes (which creeped Dell out a bit). She wore a white blouse with brown leaf prints on the sides, a black short skirt with some of the same leaf prints, and a strange red hat, a type that Dell couldn't name, but was obviously something Japanese.

"Geez, Aya, do you ever go to sleep?" Keine asked her. "News never sleeps," She responded, "As for the latest news, somebody had the nerve to leave their ship in the middle of the Forest of Magic, disturbing many of the residents. Murasa says she's got nothing to do with it, though it's not like anybody else has anything to do with boats. However, though it had just appeared tonight, rumor has it it's from the Outside World, and it'll probably have some really cool things in it. Everyone for themselves!"

"Hold on there for a second missy!" Dell called, "What do 'ya mean by 'boat'?" "A boat randomly appearing certainly is strange," Keine added. "Read about it yourself!" she said, tossing them a newspaper. "Hot off the press!" she added, before disappearing in a gust of wind the moment their gazes were off of her.

"She's a youkai," Keine decided to add. "She didn't seem that bad," Dell noted. "It's very rare you can walk around, especially at night, and find a friendly youkai like her," Keine explained, "Though I suppose there are notable ones out there that aren't as hostile."

Dell examined the front page of the newspaper. "The Bunbunmaru paper isn't exactly the most factual," Keine told him, "It's more about Aya's opinions than actual facts." On the front page of the paper read; **BOAT APPEARS IN FOREST OF MAGIC; CULPRIT NOT FOUND**. Below it, was a grand picture of the Borealis itself. It's hull was still painted with frost, rusted in many spots. The word BOREALIS was still visible on it's hull, along with the Aperture logo in various places. It had been tipped on it's side. It was far higher than the trees, and apparently it brought some of it's broken drydock with it, chunks of metal resting not far from the ship, and even brought some ice with it, littered around it and the forest. It looked mostly undamaged, aside from the drydock now being entirely in pieces.

Dell read through what he thought was probably the most self-centered newspaper article he'd ever read. Apparently, it had only appeared there about twenty minutes ago, not too much earlier from when Dell found himself in this place, Xen-Tokyo, or rather, Gensokyo.

"I need to get to that ship," Dell said, passing the paper to Keine. Keine analyzed the paper and asked, "Do you know that ship? Must had come here with you" she concluded. "Oh yeah, I'm assumin' that's the thing that brought me 'ere, and most likely my teammates are 'ere as well," Dell explained, "If I at least get to that thing, I might get some sort of clue as to where the rest of 'em are."

Hello again. This chapter is short, mostly because this is where I ran into writer's block.

Originally, when I was planning and writing this chapter, I had realized that I had coincidentally only had IN characters in it. It's not even my favorite game, but somehow, it happened. Though, somehow, I managed to squeeze characters out and put Aya in. I tend to make plans for chapters, but then as I write, just as I'm pondering what to write next (because I forgot to plan it) some random idea pops into my head. Aya is one of the many cases in this chapter. Then again, I don't see what's wrong with having only characters form a certain game in one chapter, even if it's the beginning chapter. I guess from me being an experienced roleplayer, it's sort of a writing instinct of mine. I always plan an idea of what I want to do with my character in the future, and then, something slightly or completely different from my original planning sequence happens, and I just come up with an even better idea than my original idea.

(Some next chapter spoilers in here) I already know what I'm going to do with Dell and Rokunam. I'm not too sure exactly what Tewi is going to do with Josh, but I am in the process of brainstorming a rather comic sequence. Adrian Shephard's going to have an epic (yet silly) fight with Rumia, just need to plan it out more (he's got nightvision, right?). I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with Mykeisha, but she's probably going to end up in some kind of reckless fighting, and vaporizing, I was thinking maybe something involving Cirno, but I already have Shephard fighting Rumia so, it'd be kind of weird to do it twice. I was thinking about exactly how Chell would enter, and I just thought, "What the heck, let's just have her fall out of the sky." And I was thinking she'd be falling toward the Misty Lake, and having her panic, 'cause of one of GlaDOS's words of advice (possibly a blatant lie) stating to 'not submerge the device in water, even partially', though, I don't see how you can portal away from a lake. Either way, I'm open to all ideas.

I might even add Gordon Freeman and the main characters into the story at some point, but probably much later in the storyline. Though, I don't think I'm going to put the Freeman in Gensokyo.

Will Shephard, Chell, and the rest of the rebels get back to Earth? Will they be accepted in Gensokyo without causing a commotion? Will the Combine invade Gensokyo? Will the Borealis technology be safe? Will Letty lose weight? Will John Freeman become 'Saver of Humens'? Who knows, but find out when the Space Core gets tired of SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!


End file.
